Pittsburgh or Bust

I'd like to say that Grandma and Grandpa Sadler have patiently waited for us to visit Pittsburgh with the girls and if by patient, you mean, nagging every chance they get and taking every opportunity to tell people that we hadn't made the trip yet, then yes, patient would be the word. But, 15 months since my mom threw me a Pennsylvania baby shower, we decided they had waited long enough. The truth is that with the girls born early, we missed the window of opportunity to travel while they would peacefully sleep in the car. And if I'm being totally honest, I was kind of terrified to travel with them considering they kind of hate being confined right now. So, we timed it to leave right after Mom's Day Out, knowing they would be especially tired. So, dressed in our Steelers shirts, we were off for our road trip.

"Mom, seriously, there are a lot of cows in Indiana."

"Don't worry, I heard the shag look is making a comeback."

An hour into our trip and the girls' very peaceful nap, we hit traffic in Dayton and they were awake...for the duration. With 4 more driving hours and atleast an hour stop, we went through a lot of food (think Wendy's vanilla frosty), watched the same Elmo video on Mommy's laptop 4 times and had a full blown-hour long meltdown (Addy). However, I'm pleased to say it was worth it! Grandma & Grandpa loved showing them off. They were spoiled by their friends, we caught up with old friends and we all had a blast.

"Mmmmmm, this bacon stuff is good, who needs blueberries and waffles?"

"Grandma Linda, I'm a celebrity around here, even the mailman knows me...do you show my picture to everyone? Have you no shame?" -Lilly

"Grandpa, one of these guys lives at the Indy zoo, did he come here with us?"-Addy

"No swimming? But you never say 'no' to this face."-Lilly

"Could you put some of that wine in a sippy for me?"--Addy

"Okay, so let's get this straight--our moms were friends when they were kids? Our moms were kids?" Nicolina, Lilly & Addy becoming fast friends (don't mind the drool, we were feeding them to get them to sit still)

Oh, and if you are wondering how the car ride home was...we left at their bedtime and drove through the night...much better plan. (A couple firsts--first time with a babysitter who wasn't family and first time tasting bacon) Thanks for an awesome weekend! We'll come back--promise!

Lilly movie

Technical difficulties didn't allow me to post this on the earlier post. 2 days later...here's my lilly, making her youtube debut...






and because we LOVE the zoo, we went back today...here are some cute pics!

13 month movies

As illustrated in my last post, Lilly isn't at all camera shy, she loves attention! Addy is a bit harder to catch on video. She's equally as funny, just in different ways. Her favorite thing right now is walking around the house wearing her sunglasses, but she takes them off as soon as the camera is out. Instead of puckering and giving kisses, she is blowing kisses these days, that is what she is doing in the video below. We are gearing up for our first real road trip with the girls. Yes, I know, they are over a year old, but remember there are 2 of them! We've done the Ash lakehouse (2 hours) and that is the farthest we've attempted with our girls that don't so much like the car. But, we determined that Grandma and Grandpa Sadler have waited long enough to show off our girls to friends in PA, so Pittsburgh or bust! We leave Friday, so keep your fingers crossed for us.

Drama Queen

I talked to my sister yesterday and she didn't believe the extent of our little drama queen. Here's a video to prove it....

Busy, Busy, Busy

Here we are, the middle of September. The girls are 13 months old. They crack me up atleast a few times a day now. They are so smart--we had another evaluation by "First Steps" an early-intervention agency in town that checks on kids who are be predisposed for developmental delays (ie. preemies). They passed with flying colors. The therapists were great and challenged us for 10-15 words by 15-16 months, so we've been trying to step up our vocabulary. They definately know what I'm saying. Lilly loves the game "Find the_________" it can keep her busy. She can find her toy Boat, Bear, Ball, Book, Car. Addy typically looks at me like, "It's right there, if you can see it, get it your damn self." But, it's entertaining nonetheless.

This has been my first opportunity to post pics of our little bike riders--who knew you could look so cute sporting helmets?

This past weekend, I sold some baby stuff in the Northside Twins & Multiples sale, so Grandma & Grandpa Sadler had the girls for the day. The wagon picture is from their trip to the Farmer's Market. They are celebrities there and each stand gives them treats--blueberries, homemade bread, etc. Their favorite booth is the pet treats tent. They get excited to see the dogs and when you ask them what sound they make, they'll try and let out "woof". It's all pretty damn cute.
We also celebrated with Jacob for his first birthday! It was a Colts themed party and the girls had a great time! Happy Birthday Jacob--we love you!

L-R: Jacob, Addy, Lilly & Jack Watko (Not an easy crew to get to sit quietly for a picture)

R-L: Addy, Jacob, Lilly & Jack (Addy refused the hat)

Today, we had our first trip to the Dentist! Yep, you read it right. The truth is, I'm kind of crazy about clean teeth and I'll probably pass this on to my children. I NEVER miss a cleaning. It's just one of those weird things...So, when my pediatrician saw that they were cutting their molars, she thought I should take them. They were BIG girls and climbed into the BIG chairs. She had an Elmo light, so they thought that was pretty cool. No cavities, so all is well in the world.

"Mom, you think she'll notice if I take this home?"--Lilly

"Now where have I seen that red, furry guy before..."--Addy

What a difference a year makes! NFL Kick-off...

Here are our little Colts fans ready for another big season! The game didn't go our way, but we had a fun day around town wearing our blue & white. Check out the comparison picture below--what a difference in a year! (Cat--just go back to the last blog and pretend you never saw this one.)

Also--A big congratulations for our friends Lauren & Chad who welcomed twin boys into the world last week. We couldn't be happier for you--Aiden & Chase are adorable!

What a week! First day of school?

Well, today was Addy & Lilly's first day in the "Mom's Day out Program" down the street. I was worried because it would mean skipping morning naps and some adjustment being away from mom for 4 hours. The verdict is in and they did great. Both scoring 10's on their "report card." This is my attempt at finding some work/home balance and I'm really hoping we don't see repercussions of adjusting their schedules this weekend and it goes off well next week. I'm enjoying my new job, but nap times come and go quickly! That is the main reason I don't blog as much as I used to. That and the girls are so busy. I've caught Lilly in the toilet, Addy climbing the stairs, eating off the pantry floor, etc. Their favorite activity right now is letting them play with their walkers out in the driveway. I have to check my OCD tendencies in the house and let them have fun. We go straight into the bathtub to scrub the dirt...a video is below, but it's hard to catch on video as they are usually going in separate directions. They love the park and pictures from the swings are below. I also put up a cute picture of my dad and Lilly at the zoo last week that I think is adorable. The other video is my laughing machine. It doesn't take much to get these girls laughing these days. I'm still trying to catch them tickling one another on video. It has happened a couple of times when I'm not in the room, but I can't get to my camera quickly enough. That's it for now, back to work while they are sleeping.

"Mom--did you you know we get a snack, lunch and no naps in this place--I think it's heaven!" (Thanks for the birthday outfits Kristina--aren't they cute?)

"I can reach you if I really try..."

"Weeeeeeeeeee"-Lilly

"Mom, check it out, I have more hair than grandpa!"

1 Year Photo Shoot

We enlisted the help of our photographer from This Little Light Photography to capture the girls 1 year portraits. With Lilly being quite the diva and Addy not yet confident on her feet, she had her work cut out for her. We weren't surprised that the pictures came out perfect! Here are some of my favorites...

And just so we don't forget the tantrums...

On a personal note--Daddy got promoted! Congrats Jeremy! We are proud of you!